Eleven Days
by Wunder-Katze
Summary: Teddy was born eleven days before the Battle of Hogwarts, but Remus and Tonks don't know how much time they have. They just know know they've got to give Teddy all the love they can in a short amount of time. So, here's a glimpse into those last eleven days of the Lupin family, where they teach each other that the ones who love us never really leave us.
1. Eleven

**Eleven**

Remus paces outside of the bedroom.

He's seen blood before. He's even tasted it. He hates it. The thought of it makes him gag. He can't even look at it. He can't stand raw steak and the blood that leaks from the pores when you cut it, even though he craves it, often. His conscience won't let him forget the hazy visions of chaos he has caused during full moons. Or maybe they are just nightmares. There is no way to know what is real and what is not after he has transformed. But there is always blood. He is afraid of it.

He doesn't want to see the blood now. Just in case. The moon is so full.

But he feels stricken as he hears Tonks gasp on the other side of the door. He wrings his hands, runs them through his hair, absently traces the scars on his face. He unwraps a chocolate bar and compulsively eats the whole thing, not even bothering to break it into pieces. The wrapper crinkles as he slips it into his pocket. He breathes deeply. He knows Tonks is receiving the best of care –Madame Pomfrey came all the way from Hogwarts.

Dumbledore said he was glad to spare her, and that if one the students suffered any injury, it would just teach them a well needed lesson if they had to wait a bit before getting bandaged. Of course, Remus knew, Dumbledore was so powerful that in a pinch, he could heal a wound even if it was not his typical use of magic.

Remus wished Dumbledore could cure him of his lycanthropy. But alas.

He hears Tonks on the other side. He thinks he hears his name. But birth is a bloody business. And he doesn't want the wolf in him to get a glimpse of his child. But he hears his name called again. Maybe the regular old Remus isn't even ready to get a glimpse of the child.

"What have we done?" he remembers asking Tonks when she told him, months ago. "I'm not ready to be a father!"

"You'll be the _best_! If I wasn't married to you, having you as a dad would be the next best thing. You'll be the _coolest_ dad," Tonks said, enthusiastically, hugging him. "You're going to give our child chocolate all the time, and they're going to be cute and chubby, and you're going to have so many stories to tell them about Hogwarts. They'll know where all the secret passages are, and they'll be so popular with the other kids! And then when the others ask them how they knew where all the best hiding spots were, our kid will reply, 'oh, you know, just from my cool dad.'"

Tonks's hair shifted from bubble gum pink to the brightest fuchsia in her excitement.

"My name is going to be 'cool dad?'" Remus asked.

"Of course," Tonks had replied with a grin.

"If I'm cool, then what are you? There mustn't even be a word to define you if _I'm_ considered cool," Remus laughed.

"Oh, plain old mum is good enough for me," Tonks said.

"You'll be anything but that," Remus grinned. "I still don't know if I'm ready…or _suitable_ to be a father," he added after awhile.

"Well, you have a few months to prepare," Tonks grinned, patting her belly, not yet swollen. "He won't be delivered tonight like a muggle pizza." She was trying to make light, but in Remus's eyes she saw the fear rising up. The same fear she saw on nights with full moons. The same fear that was liable to consume him. The same fear that almost kept them apart.

The moon was only a crescent on _that_ night.

Tonks narrowed her eyes and her hair turned dark auburn. "Your wolfishness has nothing to do with the matter," she said firmly. "You're going to be cool dad whether you want to be or not." It was her last word on the matter.

After that Remus had run away.

He went to 12 Grimmauld Place, hoping for some business of the Order to take him far away, maybe never to return. He offered to hunt down horcruxes.

His child could be a werewolf –how dare he be so foolish as to risk passing on those wretched genes?! How could he have thought saddling another life with his curse worth the risk? Even if his child did mercifully escape his cursed chromosomes… he was still a werewolf. No child should grow up so afraid of their father.

It was Harry's scolding that finally made him go back. Finally made him push his fear away like saying _riddikulus_ to a boggart. Harry knew what it was like not to have a father, and if that orphaned boy thought it would be worse than having a werewolf dad… Remus knew his responsibility lay with Tonks and his unborn child. It was more important than his fears for the future. The future would care for itself.

Yes, in all actuality, Remus saw a bright future for his little one. Tonks and he would love it with all their hearts, and it would have the best and wisest godfather in Harry Potter. It was going to be spoilt beyond belief.

Tonks had been so relieved and angry and excited when he had come home, Remus was afraid of sending her into labor. She had let her hair turn dull brown in his absence, but it turned again to bubble gum pink when he walked through the door. He had patted her stomach, which had grown at least three sizes in his absence, and whispered to his child that he was home now, and wasn't going to leave it again.

"I'm not leaving either of you, ever again," he said rising and addressing Tonks's face.

Tonks had sobbed his name, tears washing over her smiling face.

Remus hears his name sobbed again, from the other side of that door, for labor has come now. He flings it open. Tonks needs him. Or at least his hand, so she can cut off the blood flow to his fingers. Remus avoids looking at the birth itself. The last thing he wants to do is cut the umbilical cord.

Too much like cutting through flesh with sharpened teeth.

But after Madame Pomfrey cleans up the baby boy, Remus looks. He's got turquoise hair. He's a metamorphagus, like his mum. He sighs in relief as he is handed to Tonks.

"What shall we call him?" Tonks asks, her eyes still weepy from the pain.

"Let's call him Edward, after your father," Remus suggests quietly, using his thumb to wipe her tears. A few more come with his suggestion and as memories of her recently killed father flood her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'd really like that," Tonks says, stroking the baby's hair. "But let's call him Teddy when we talk to him. Edward is too formal –it can just go on the birth certificate."

Before she leaves, Madame Pomfrey gathers the newly expanded family together and takes a snapshot of them. Tonks thanks her profusely for everything.

A few hours later, Remus looks down at his wife. She is asleep, exhausted from bringing the new life, which she still holds in her arms, into the world. As she dreams, her hair softly changes from bubble gum pink to sunset orange to deepest indigo, her consciousness a sunset.

"And even prettier than one," Remus murmurs, bending over and kissing her forehead. He has never met such a thoroughly beautiful person.

And that's saying something having had James Potter and Sirius Black for best friends, Remus thinks. No one else would turn themselves into illegal animagi just to comfort their werewolf friend. No one but Tonks would fall head over heels in love with him as if he weren't one at all.

Remus now looks down at the bundle in her arms. To be completely honest, he doesn't think his son Teddy _looks_ that beautiful, at least not right now. In fact, he looks a bit like an alien, his eyes dark and wide and wondering in his pale, round face tufted with turquoise. But Remus finds him the most precious thing. He leans over and kisses him too.

 **I hope you are enjoying the story so far! If you still like it by the end...please consider voting for it to help it win the fandom3 contest on Inkitt .com! Same title, same author name. Just click the heart button and I will love you forever... :')**


	2. Ten

**Ten**

"I wish you would hold him," Tonks says, bouncing Teddy gently in her arms.

"I don't trust myself," Remus replies. "He's so fragile –look how tiny he is!"

"You won't break him," Tonks promises.

But Remus won't budge. He is content to look and not touch.

"What makes you think you'll break him? Remus, I know the full moon is coming tomorrow night, but it's daylight now. There's no danger. You've taken your potion and I'm right here," Tonks says, holding out the tiny bundle.

Still Remus shakes his head.

"It's not that. I mean, at least not at this particular moment. It's just that I was never comfortable holding Harry as a baby. I almost dropped him once because I wrapped him in James's invisibility cloak instead of his baby blanket by mistake. I was so surprised when he disappeared that I let go."

"Remus, we don't have an invisibility cloak. You won't drop Teddy," Tonks smiles encouragingly.

"Harry always liked Sirius best. He only liked me a little better than Peter, and that's not saying much," Remus replies.

"Number one, I know that isn't true. I've seen that picture of Harry nestling into your ugly Christmas sweater at the Potter's Christmas party. Harry showed me himself –it's in the scrapbook Hagrid compiled for him."

"What?" Remus exclaims, gulping at the possible abundance of embarrassing Marauder pictures that could exist. "When did Harry do that?"

"Shortly after our wedding. After one of the Order meetings. He thought I'd like to see –and he was right," Tonks grins. "That Christmas sweater was pretty horrendous."

Remus shakes his head.

"Number two," Tonks continues, "You have to hold him sometime. It's in the rules."

"What rules?"

"Just…parenting rules," Tonks shrugs.

"I'll go make his bottle," Remus says, leaving Tonks to bounce Teddy and sing into his turquoise hair. She thinks while she sings to him. What is Remus afraid of? It's noon, no chance of transformation at all. He was so young when he held Harry, and after that experience, he surely shouldn't be _that_ afraid. If anything it taught him how not to hold a baby, preparing him better for the next time.

Then it hits her. Remus's commenting about Harry liking Sirius best. Tonks knows it isn't true –Harry loves them both equally. But that's not it either –it's not jealously or a competition between she and Remus, battling for Teddy's love. He's afraid Teddy won't like him at all.

"Want to feed him? He'll love that," Tonks asks as Remus reenters with the bottle.

"You can show me how it's done," Remus says. "Is this the right temperature?"

"Perfect," Tonks replies.

Teddy does indeed love it. Tonks whispers that it's his daddy that made such a superb bottle.

Teddy is a quiet, content baby. He is asleep in the crib. Remus watches over him while Tonks takes a much deserved bath. Remus had run the water for her, steaming hot but not boiling, and added her favourite scented bubbles. He enchanted them to burst into different colours when they popped.

With a whisper of 'lumos' he shot some orbs of flickering light from his wand for gentle ambiance. He scrubbed Tonks's back quickly, then left her to enjoy some alone time while he watches Teddy.

Teddy's hair changes colour suddenly. His eyes flicker and Remus knows he must be dreaming. He wonders what he might have to dream about with only twenty four hours experience of the world. But the little thing wakes up crying. Remus glances anxiously at the bathroom door.

He tries to hand Teddy his bottle, but he pushes it away. His nappy is clean. Remus wraps the baby blanket around him, but it doesn't seem that he has a chill. Remus looks furtively at the bathroom door again as Teddy continues to hiccup sadly.

No, he can't expect Tonks to leave the bath when she really hasn't rested since Teddy came into the world. But Remus is afraid Teddy will continue to cry, even after he's been picked up. He's afraid that somehow, a person with twenty-four hours experience in the world will find out he is a werewolf and not like him. Or maybe just not like him period.

Remus reaches into the crib, grabbing hold of Teddy with strong hands. He lifts him with little effort and brings him to his chest. He tells Teddy it's his daddy, not his mum, and he hopes that's okay. Teddy ceases his crying at once.

It's Remus's turn to have tears prick at his eyes. His son _does_ accept him.

Tonks appears in a bathrobe.

"I told you he wanted to meet his cool dad," she says.

She slips back into the water, leaving Remus to enjoy some time with his son.


	3. Nine

**Nine**

Remus shivers, looking at the moon outside, full and milky and bright. He draws the curtains across the window with a swoosh. He knows Harry is right. Teddy needs a father, Tonks needs a husband, and he needs them. But he has an inkling of the monster he becomes when he forgets or can't find his potion.

An inkling –impossible to have a full knowledge, for you lose time within yourself when you transform into the beast. Remus likes to think that the werewolf is separate from him, rather like Voldemort must have been to Quirrell, one of the other DADA professors. Tonks encourages this thought.

They're sitting on the edge of their bed. Teddy is asleep in his crib a few feet away, swaddled, fed, and with a dry nappy. It's the wee hours of the morning. Teddy's not even a full two days old. Tonks must still be exhausted, but she props herself on her pillow and leans on Remus as she keeps vigil with him.

"You aren't a monster, Remus. It just happens to be attached you. But I know it isn't you. Do you know how I know? That monster doesn't know anything of love, beasts can't know things like that, but my Remus does. My Remus knows all about love and giving," Tonks whispers to him when the light of that full moon creeps back through the gap in the curtains. Tonks whispers to him, stroking his back as he shakes like a drunk who hasn't had a drink. Tonks always stays by his side.

"I feel terrible to make you play nursemaid every month," Remus apologizes later that morning over breakfast.

When they finally slept it was only for an hour, for Teddy awoke them in a timely fashion.

Remus now stands over a pan of sizzling eggs and bacon. Tonks says she is starving. Remus puts everything on a plate, including some toast and Tonks's favourite marmalade and serves her breakfast in bed. She is still smiling about his nursemaid comment. She's formulated a proper reply by now.

"You buy my tampons and put up with my moods every month. We'll call it even," she grins.

Remus grins back. He trades her Teddy for the tray of food. Tonks dives in, as ravenous as his wolf form. He holds Teddy, making sure to remind himself every four seconds that Teddy's head must be kept higher than his feet. Every time he glances down he is surprised to see that he is holding his son correctly.

"Yes, I suppose our cycles will sync back up again now that Teddy is here," he rejoins nonchalantly. "I've rather missed your sympathy hormones."

"Have you ever thought _your_ cycle might follow _mine_? Why does it always have to center about you?" Tonks asks sarcastically around some toast.

"My cycle follows the moon," Remus points out.

Tonks forms a silent 'oh yeah' with her lips. She catches Remus's eye, which is glittering, and they laugh.

"Well, no matter," she says as she eats. "It's still another advantage to having a lycanthropic husband. He _completely_ understands cycles. It's wonderful."

They laugh some more until they read the _Daily Prophet._ The wizarding world seems to be crumbling around them. Remus holds Teddy a little tighter.

"There are rumors that Harry might be back," Remus whispers as if their house might be bugged.

"Really?" Tonks whispers back, setting down her fork.

"If he is, it could mean a showdown with You-Know-Who very soon," Remus goes on.

"You're going to tell me you want to fight with Harry," Tonks replies, her eyes locking on the shock of turquoise peeping above Remus's arm.

Remus's reply is short. Only two words. But it is more than enough to convince Tonks.

"For him."

She nods, and echos, "For him." She is going to fight too.

For him. So he can grow up in a world without You-Know-Who. So he doesn't have to worry about a corrupt Ministry of Magic that may throw him in prison on fake charges. So he can go to Hogwarts and learn without fear of being killed.

Although, there's always enough high-risk mischief to be got up at Hogwarts, Remus reminisces with a small smile. He thinks of Teddy's godfather, the current master of the Marauders Map. He remembers making that map with James and Sirius. A piece of him tries to erase Peter from the memory but cannot. They are all sitting there in the Gryffindor Tower at three in the morning working on it. James and Sirius are talking around the leaves they must hold in their mouths for a month to become animagi.

They see the first sets of footprints appear on the map. Their own. There's hi-fives and low whistles and dead silence as a foreign sound pierces the party. It was only the Fat Lady's snore. The boys go back to slapping each other's backs. They'll add more footprints, slowly but surely, until the map learns to do so by itself. They begin working on witty things for the map to say to intruders and snicker as they climb the stairs to their dormitory.

Remus was the one tasked with keeping the map safe, of course, since he was deemed most responsible of the group. He held it gingerly, stroking it softly before sliding it under his pillow.

Remus is brought back to the present by a gurgle from Teddy. He smiles and holds him gingerly, stroking his hair softly, before laying him on his pillow in his crib.


	4. Eight

**Eight**

Remus lets the hot water roll over him, lets it wash away yesterday's chills and pain. He grabs a bottle of shampoo and squeezes a blob onto his hand. As he rubs it into his hair he is struck by the distinct smell of flowers. His eyes sting. He's used Tonks's shampoo by mistake. Again.

He scrubs it out of his hair as quickly as possible when he hears the bathroom door creak open.

"Hey, dear," he calls out over the roar of the water. "I'll be out in a minute if you need in here."

He hopes for the sake of his pride that Tonks cannot smell the meadow of flowers that has blossomed in the shower and is wafting around him and innervating the steam.

She sniffs the air, quietly. And smirks. Remus has used her shampoo again.

"There's someone here to see you," Tonks says.

"Well, um, tell them to wait I guess. I'll be out shortly," Remus replies.

He begins going through a list of people in his head of who it might be and finally asks who it is. Tonks creeps silently to the shower curtain. She's morphed her face into one that is not her own –one with a swirling, electric blue, mad eye.

"I see you've used my shampoo by mistake," she says, still on the other side of the curtain.

She stifles a giggle as Remus groans dismally.

"How many times have I told you…" she says, ripping back the shower curtain. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Remus screams as he is faced by Mad-Eye Moody. A Mad-Eye Moody whose laugh is unmistakably Nymphadora Tonks's.

"Tonks," Remus breathes. "That's not funny."

"Maybe not, but your face is!" she points and laughs. "Wait till Moody hears how I got you again, he'll be so…" Tonks trails off.

It's hard to remember that her old mentor is dead. She wouldn't have pulled his face except that she keeps forgetting. When someone you love dies, they're never really gone. You always think of things to say to them, things they would have enjoyed. Sometimes you almost send them an owl, but the owl doesn't know where to go.

No, they're never really gone because you keep them beside you.

Remus shuts off the water and wraps himself in a towel. He embraces Tonks in a wet hug.

"You're ruining my hair. I actually woke up with it like this, and that doesn't happen every day," she tries not to cry. She tries not to think of Moody.

"I miss him, too. He was a dear friend. Dearer even, because he was like a father to you," Remus says. "Anyone who treats my Tonks so well as Moody did is a very fine bloke in my book."

"You've never written a book, you just draw maps," Tonks retorts. But Remus knows she appreciates his words because she hugs him tighter. He knows that if she tries to talk about Moody her hair will turn navy blue, or maybe even black. He knows that she doesn't want Teddy to witness such grief in his mother when he's only two days old. Not that the little tyke would remember, but Tonks insists that he's bright, and she's sure he'll remember.

Remus knows Teddy's memory of Tonks is important to her, because she's afraid that with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named getting closer every day, these days or months might be all the memories he will have.

Not of you, Remus thinks. Maybe of me, but I'm going to make sure you _both_ are safe from You-Know-Who.

He doesn't tell Tonks this. He isn't going to tell her until it's absolutely necessary, tell her that he refuses to let her fight. He knows she will want to. But he thinks, for Teddy's sake, she will find it in herself to agree with him. To let her husband go. He'll pull the whole 'submit to your husband card' if he has too. He'll do anything to make the world a better place for his wife and child.

That night, after putting Teddy in the crib, they know they have about three hours to sleep. Remus turns out the light as their heads hit the pillow. Tonks grabs him from behind and snuggles into his back. Remus smiles, turning to look at her. Professor Snape stares back.

Remus screams and falls out of bed. Tonks laughs and Teddy gurgles in the cribs, waving his chubby fists.

"That's _not_ funny," Remus says rubbing his elbow, stinging from hitting the floor.

" _That._ _Was._ Funny," Tonks says, morphing back into herself.

"Was certainly not," Remus tries to growl.

Teddy gurgles more loudly from the crib.

"Oh, yeah?" Tonks counters. "He begs to differ."

Remus looks at his child, his hair changing like a light show in his excitement, his gurgles culminating into squeals. Two days old and Tonks has taught him how to laugh.

"You done a good thing, Mrs. Lupin," Remus says, pretending to tip a cap to her.

Her eyes sparkle in the darkness, just catching reflection of colours from Teddy's hair.


	5. Seven

**Seven**

Remus is munching on some chocolate. Tonks's back is turned, she's heating milk on the stove. Teddy blinks up at Remus, watching him. Watching the chocolate slowly disappear. Remus checks again that Tonks isn't watching.

Maybe it's that they're magic. Or maybe it's that they're soulmates. Whichever is the case, Tonks seems to sense what he's about to do.

"Don't give Teddy chocolate, dear. He's got no teeth, and he doesn't need that much sugar. He slept little enough last night as it is," she says.

Remus looks dejectedly at the chocolate in his palm. He had squished it so that Teddy could gum it down. He shoots another glance at Tonks's back, but she turns and shoots a glance of her own at the melted chocolate in his palm.

"Look at you," she says. "Messy as our son! Go wash up, I'll give Teddy his bottle."

Remus hands over his son, mouthing, 'sorry' to him, silently promising to put 'operation chocolate Teddy' into action another time. He goes obediently to the bathroom to rinse the chocolate from his hands, leaving the remainder of the bar on the kitchen table.

Tonks looks to see that Remus is safely down the hall before taking the remainder of his chocolate bar and tossing it into the pot of milk. It melts instantly, turning the creamy stuff into a delicacy. She stirs it quickly, the chocolate mixing well with the milk. She pours it into Teddy's bottle and tests the temperature on her wrist. She squeezes a drop into her mouth to test the taste. Perfect.

She hands the bottle to Teddy who takes a grateful swig. His little face lights up, his hair a lightshow as the chocolate milk runs over his tongue.

"Oh, that's not fair," Remus cries. "He's going to give you credit for his first taste of chocolate, _and_ I got scolded for no reason."

Tonks blushes. She had hoped Remus would take longer in the bathroom and that Teddy would have gulped down the milk faster. But Remus shakes his head and puts his arm around his wife, gazing down at the little boy who seems to love chocolate as much as his father.

"How did you come to like chocolate so much anyway?" Tonks asks, her eyes flitting from Teddy to Remus and back again.

"That's a long story. That goes back to the Marauder days. I remember reading in a muggle book, I think, that chocolate was poisonous to dogs. I thought…I thought that if I ate enough chocolate I might kill the wolf in me. I was only a first year," Remus says, not wanting Tonks to think he's an idiot.

Tonks's mouth is open in pity, not ridicule. She doesn't think he's an idiot at all. She wishes she had a time turner so she could go hug her husband's younger self.

"The story gets better," Remus says quickly. "I kept asking everyone for chocolate. I never told them why. That's when Lily Potter, Evans then, started keeping chocolate frogs on her at all times. That's what she always bought me for Christmas and my birthday –boat loads of chocolate bars and chocolate frogs. I had more wizard cards than any kid at Hogwarts. Eventually, I came to associate carrying chocolate with Lily and friendship, rather than trying to kill a beast within. After she and James passed…it's just one habit of many that I have taken on to keep their memory alive."

"That's a beautiful story. I'm glad you had such wonderful friends at Hogwarts," Tonks says. "I hope Teddy finds friends just like them."

"Well, perhaps not _just_ like. We were trouble makers, the boys and I. And they used wolf puns all the time."

"Lucky for Teddy he is a metamorphagus, and there are far fewer puns to be made about that."

"If Teddy makes friends like mine, I'm sure they'll be able to think of some _colourful_ phrases to describe him," Remus grins.


	6. Six

**Six**

Remus reads the _Daily Prophet_ aloud that afternoon. Tonks sits beside him on the couch, Teddy in her lap. Remus holds up a finger, pausing in the midst of an article. He flips to the back of the newspaper and detaches the last page. The funnies –moving comic strips for the kiddos.

He hands it across to Teddy, who manages to hold on to it. His eyes, wide and wondering, take in the moving pictures. He gurgles contentedly. Remus and Tonks take the time to smile. They feel solemn as Remus takes up the article again.

It's full of Ministry lies and propaganda, but they can read between the lines. Even the Ministry is beginning to feel the full effects of You-Know-Who's return. On the radio, Remus and Tonks listen to the broadcast, Potterwatch.

Remus himself has been on the broadcast under the codename 'Romulus.' He hopes Harry really is on his way back to Hogwarts. A storm is brewing and dark days are ahead, if they aren't already here.

As if to prove the point, the weather forecast in the paper is calling for severe thunderstorms tonight, Remus reads. The weather, uncontrollable even with magic.

Sure enough, thunder shakes the window panes of the little house. Lighting streaks across the sky, illuminating the bedroom. Teddy whimpers in his crib. Afraid.

Remus picks him up, and rocks him, walking about the room, but the child's wide eyes dart about with every flash of lightning and Remus can feel him shudder. His crying has stopped in Remus's arms, but he is still afraid. This storm is so much bigger than his father.

Tonks lies awake, watching Remus through the flashes of light. She can tell Teddy is still afraid. She grabs her wand from the night stand.

"Expecto patronum," she says.

A silvery wolf bolts from the tip of the wand and prances around Teddy, howling silently, defiantly, at the storm. Teddy's eyes lock on the patronus and he forgets the storm. He reaches out his hands to touch the silvery phantom. The wolf licks Teddy, though he cannot feel it.

When Remus finally puts a sleeping Teddy back down in his crib, Tonks recalls the patronus.

Remus watches the wolf shrink and feels himself blushing. He knows Tonks's patronus is a wolf because she is in love with him, but somehow he is still realizing it, and startled by the fact.

"You love me," he whispers in awe.

"Always," says Tonks.

The storm has tapered off and the wolf lingers just long enough to illuminate their kiss with a faint glow.


	7. Five

**Five**

"I'm going to Diagon Alley," Tonks says, packing her purse with a few galleons, sickles, and knuts from the money jar in the kitchen. "Do you need anything?"

"Well, I was thinking we could get Teddy a little something. I mean, being sixty hours old is quite the occasion," Remus says.

"You're such a softy," Tonks says, patting his cheek.

"I already know you were planning on it –I saw you flipping through that toy catalogue," Remus shoots back.

"What do you think we should get him? I was going to get him a stuffed toy for his crib, in case he should ever need a companion. You know, if it storms again and the babysitter can't produce a patronus for him," Tonks says.

Remus knows her well enough to decipher her code. She means in case their dead. Still, Remus feels the time isn't right to tell her he isn't going to let her fight. He just nods.

"A stuffed toy sounds good, but I was thinking something along the lines of a broomstick. Maybe a Mini-Nimbus?"

"A broomstick? At his age? He'll poke his eye out!" Tonks says.

"If you don't get him one, you know I will," Remus shrugs.

"No, you won't," Tonks says sternly. She means business.

Remus holds up his hands. He waits for Tonks to leave before grabbing Teddy, strapping him in a papoose, and grinning at him conspiratorially.

"Let's get you that broomstick before your beautiful mother gets back, eh?" he says.

Teddy gurgles excitedly.

"Hang on," Remus says. As if he already understands language, Teddy seems to clutch a little tighter to Remus's sweater vest. Remus apparates them to Diagon Alley. He spots Tonks almost immediately, or rather her hair. He ducks behind some other shoppers as she turns. He remains obscured and dives into the broom shop.

"Do you have a Mini-Nimbus?" he asks the man at the counter.

"Ah, starting Quidditch practice early, I see," the old man grins, revealing crooked but benevolent teeth.

"Well, we have to manage our time wisely," Remus says, rather profoundly.

The old man sorts through boxes behind the counter. "I think I have just the thing. Yes, here we are. A brand new Mini-Nimbus 2. My granddaughter has the same model and loves it."

"Ah, perfect," says Remus, taking it from the box and turning it over in his hands.

Teddy eyes it as best he can from the confines of the papoose.

Remus gladly pays the allotted galleons and sickles. He apparates he and Teddy back. He listens carefully. The house is silent. They have beaten Tonks.

"I'm sure we've got time for one fly round," Remus says, taking Teddy out of the papoose.

He sets his son on the broomstick and away he zooms. He's a natural. Remus happens to glance at the clock and sees that Teddy's been flying around for fifteen minutes.

"Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans!" Remus exclaims. "Your mother will be home any minute for sure! Come down, Teddy, we've got to hide your broomstick!"

There's a sharp crack and Tonks appears in the living room with a shopping bag.

"A bit rusty from your marauding days," she comments, watching Teddy zoom above her. "No subtly anymore."

She doesn't appear too angry. She understands. Remus just wants to teach his son to fly, like all good wizarding fathers teach their sons, before…before it could be too late.

"Teddy," Tonks calls out, grabbing the camera. The broomstick turns on a dime so Teddy faces his mother. He gurgles and squeals. Tonks snaps a picture. "That's one for the album!" she cries as it emerges from the camera. The picture Teddy zooms back and forth, in and out of the frame. She puts it with the dozens of others she has taken already.

She has already framed the one Madame Pomfrey took of all of them together.

She pulls a stuffed wolf from her shopping bag. Teddy lands immediately and crawls slowly to her. She hands him the stuffed wolf and he promptly puts its ear in his mouth. Another snapshot is taken. She sets him on his father's lap and takes another.

"My alpha and my beta wolves," she grins.

Remus grins back as Teddy hands him the drooly toy as if he might want to play too.


	8. Four

**Four**

"Remus, get in here!" Tonks shouts.

Remus is listening to the Potterwatch broadcast but turns down the volume and rushes to the bedroom.

"What is it?" he pants.

"Look, Teddy's doing his first bit of magic!"

"He did that yesterday –didn't you see him flying? He's going to be a seeker, just like his godfather, and his father before him," Remus says proudly. If his sweater vest had had buttons on it, they would have popped clean off.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Tonks says. She means that Teddy is working magic on something that's not already enchanted with instruction on what to do. Remus looks around the room. It takes him a moment to realize that he needs to look up.

The stuffed wolf is hovering in the air. Teddy's eyes are locked on it and the toy dances and swoops through the ether. It patrols his crib, a regular guard dog.

"Just like your patronus," Remus says to Tonks.

"Just like you," she replies, hugging him while snapping another picture of Teddy.


	9. Three

**Three**

Teddy has been fed, changed, bathed, and is sleeping peacefully in his crib, his stuffed wolf floating above his head.

"How do you think manages it in his sleep?" Remus wonders.

"He's very talented, just like his father," Tonks replies.

"More like his mother," Remus rejoins.

"Oh, hush, wolfman," she grins.

"I can't help but howl at the moonshine in your eyes," he says suavely.

"You really _are_ such a wolf sometimes!" Tonks laughs.

"How can I not be when my wife is as tasty as little red riding hood?" he asks, kissing her.

"Oh, cut it out! Now you are just being a big, _bad_ wolf," she teases.

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow you a kiss," he pretends to growl.

"Come here, you tough alpha babe, and I'll show you a thing or two about blowing kisses," Tonks says, winking and blowing him a kiss like a movie star.

Remus pretends to catch it and fall over.

The door bell rings.

Seeing that Teddy is still peacefully asleep in his crib, they go to answer it. It is Arthur and Molly Weasley with business from the Order.

"Sorry to disturb you," Arthur begins. Remus and Tonks wave away his apology and usher them in and set them down in their living room, putting steaming mugs of tea in their hands.

"We hate to ask, we really do, especially with Teddy…" Molly begins.

"I've committed myself to the Order and vanquishing You-Know-Who. I'm ready to fight," Remus says.

"Me too," Tonks replies.

Arthur and Molly look at their friends, the dearest couple this side of the Thames. Ready to sacrifice themselves. The scene makes the Weasleys's fingers cold despite the mugs of tea, and their hearts heavy despite the nice reunion.

They talk a little longer, discussing the Potterwatch reports and things that have leaked out from Hogwarts. There is no way out of this without a battle. They take time to remember the friends they lost in the first battle. They tell stories. Sometimes Tonks does not know everyone they mention, but many of their acquaintances were hers as well.

"Alastor would've love Teddy," Molly says, when she and Arthur are invited to creep in and spy on the sleeping child.

"Imagine him holding Teddy while he's crying," says Arthur. "Would've been explaining to him the tactical advantages of silence."

"Screaming 'constant vigilance' at me and Tonks in regards to his nappies, no doubt," Remus adds.

"It would've been great," Tonks agrees, barely above a whisper, and not because she's worried about waking the baby.

They silently wonder who will be left of the Order after _this_ battle.

The Weasleys say goodnight and Remus and Tonks agree to meet them at 12 Grimmauld Place on the morrow. The look Remus gives Arthur needs little interpretation. He isn't letting Tonks come. Arthur nods his silent understanding.

"Sorry to keep you up," Molly apologizes as Remus yawns.

" 'Sokay," Remus chokes, waving away her apology like a gnat. "Just getting some oxygen."

"It's not even midnight yet, old dog. Guess you're not such a tough alpha babe after all," Tonks says, nudging Remus playfully. Then she looks like she wants to die. Her hair turns scarlet. She has just said Remus's nickname aloud. She's a klutz even with her mouth.

"I won't be able to look the Weasley's in the face for months," Tonks says after they leave.

"You may not have to," Remus says quietly.

"What do you mean?" Tonks asks.

The clock strikes midnight.


	10. Two

**Two**

"I haven't been able to find a good time to bring this up," Remus begins with the new day.

"I don't like the sound of that," Tonks says, afraid she's woken up on the wrong side of the bed without even sleeping.

"I don't want you to fight. I want you take Teddy to your mother's," Remus says.

"Oh, you're so silly," Tonks laughs. "Of course I'm not going to argue that. Mother will be a fine babysitter. Whatever made you think I wouldn't agree with having my own mother watch him?" she asks.

Remus pales.

"I mean," he chokes out every word, "that I want you to stay with your mother too. I don't want you to come with me."

Her hair goes dull brown.

"You don't want me with you?"

"Teddy needs you. He needs one of us to survive this thing."

Tonks doesn't look happy. "I want to fight beside you. I want to fight for Teddy. The Weasleys said _every_ witch and wizard is needed." She bristles as if she's the wolf in the family.

"They already know I'm not letting you come," Remus says.

" _They_ already knew, when I didn't? And…you won't _let_ me? Remus, we're a _team_ not a sergeant and a soldier!" She looks hurt. "I have as much a right as you to go fight. I've got Teddy's future to protect and Alastor Moody to avenge, just as much as you have his future to protect and James Potter to avenge. I have every right to kick You-Know-Who's butt, just as much as you do," she cries. "I _have_ to, don't you understand? When Teddy asks me, 'mum, what did you do during the battle against You-Know-Who?' I want to have a proper answer! When I see Alastor after I die, I want him to be proud of me, too!"

Remus knows this is causing him more pain than any injury he might suffer in the battle will.

"You'll be fighting just as hard keeping Teddy safe. That's enough to be proud of. Death Eaters and dementors will be everywhere. He'll need you! And Alastor would never hold you responsible for getting revenge, Tonks. Tonks, listen, it's for the best," he says feebly.

She rises and walks away. She grabs Teddy and packs her things and his things.

"I'm ready to go," she says coldly.

"I was going to take you in the morning," Remus says.

"It is morning," Tonks points out.

Teddy rubs his eyes sleepily as they apparate just outside Tonks's mother's house. Tonks's chin is held high in defiance. She refuses to cry.

"Tonks," Remus says, putting a hand on her shoulder. She doesn't pull away, but she doesn't move any closer, either.

Remus sighs.

"Tonks, please, I don't want to fight when we're saying goodbye."

"Then let's not say goodbye," Tonks replies. "Let's drop Teddy off. Mother is a strong witch, she can keep him safe. Let me come with you."

"I can't, Tonks. I can't bare that," Remus says. "I can't bare this!" he shouts. "You-Know-Who is already tearing us apart and he's all the way down at Hogwarts!"

Tonks begins to cry.

"Tonks, don't cry, please," Remus says, hugging her and Teddy.

"I don't want you to die. I don't want to raise Teddy all by myself," she sobs. "He needs both of us!"

Remus can feel her tears soaking through his sweater vest, through his skin, all the way to his heart. "Kiss me," Remus says.

Tonks kisses him.

"Smile for me," Remus says.

She tries her best.

"Tell me that you'll wait for me," Remus says.

"I'll wait for you," she promises.

They hold each other like they're never letting go.

"You said you'd never leave Teddy and me again," Tonks whispers.

"This is different. You know that, right?"

He can feel her nodding.

"After this is all over, we'll _never_ have to part again. Not because I'm afraid. Not because of you-Know-Who. I'll come home never to leave again. I'll make you an unbreakable vow on that."


	11. One

**One**

"Harry," Remus calls, walking over to him. Everyone is working on putting the shield around the school and saying goodbye to their friends, just in case. Hogwarts is under siege. It may not come out from under it.

Harry Potter turns to see Remus and hugs his old professor. His friend.

"This is for you," Remus says. He hands Harry the picture of Teddy on his broomstick. "I thought you might like a snap of your godson," Remus smiles.

Harry watches the turquoise haired image zoom in and out of the frame. He can't bear to tell Remus that little Teddy will need a new godfather.

 _Neither can live while the other survives._

Instead he says, "Thanks, Remus. Wow, he's already got his own broomstick!"

Ron Weasley walks by, takes one look and says, "Bloody brilliant, mate. You're one cool dad, Remus."

"I'm a cool dad," Remus whispers as the boys walk away to meet Hermione and prepare for battle.

"The coolest," says his wife from behind.

In her mother's house Tonks had used spell after spell of protection and shielding. Her mother had as well, and sat in her rocking chair, with Teddy, and her wand poised.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing, mum?" Tonks had asked.

"I think Teddy will understand why you had to, and that is all that matters," her mother nodded. As Tonks prepared to leave, her mother asked, "Didn't you and Remus make Harry Potter his godfather?"

Tonks smiled. "Yes, he's a lovely boy. Young man, I should say."

Her mother nodded again. "Yes, with Harry Potter to guide him, Teddy will understand everything."

Tonks kissed her mother. Then she kissed Teddy and told him how much she and daddy loved him, and how they would always be with him, because the ones that love you never really leave you. Tonks raised her wand and said,

"Expecto patronum," and a silvery wolf darted straight to Teddy, licking his face and sitting obediently by the rocking chair.

"Stay with my boy," she told the patronus.

The silvery wolf let out one, silent howl.

Now she was standing behind Remus. He whipped around and grabbed her, pulling her into a crushing hug.

"What are you doing here? You're so stupid Nymphadora Tonks, I love you!" he cried, kissing her.

"I was unwilling to leave Teddy, truly," Tonks says, "but I was also unable to stay."

"It seems neither of us wants to live if the other dies," Remus whispers. "But for Teddy, we must promise to go on, even if…"

"Yes, for Teddy," Tonks promises. "But I couldn't forsake you now. I love you…I couldn't leave you."

Suddenly all of Hogwarts shakes. The battle has begun.

Death Eater after Death Eater do Remus and Tonks disarm. Together they dodge the killing curse, often pushing each other out of the way. Calling to each other, barking orders at each other, keeping each other alive.

"There's Voldemort!" yells Remus, unafraid of the name, its taboo status now null.

"Let's get the son of a banshee," replies Tonks.

They join hands and aiming their wands, scream hoarsely,

"Expelliarmus!"

Voldemort flinches as his wand nearly topples from his grasp. He turns to face the Lupins. They shout spell after spell, counter curse after counter curse, but Voldemort always replies with 'avada kedavra' and inches ever closer.

They knew they were destined to die when they shouted that first spell at Voldemort. But if they can give Harry a few extra minutes to prepare –they know he is frantically searching for something. Something essential to beating Voldemort. Something essential to giving Teddy a future where the sun could shine all the clearer.

It only takes one flash of green light to kill them, for they die as they lived, as one.

The silvery wolf who stands guard lifts its head, its ears raised as if it can hear something. It lifts up its head and howls a soft, mournful melody. It rises in the air and runs straight as Teddy. It faded into nothingness as it reaches his heart. Remus and Tonks are gone. They are home, never to be parted.


	12. Zero

Zero

"I have something for you," Harry tells Teddy when he comes back for Christmas break. "Do you remember when you sent me an owl after finding the Mirror of Erised in the Hogwarts basement?"

"Yeah, just a few weeks ago," replies the messy, turquoise haired boy. "I saw a woman with pink hair –the same pink that I see when I think of my mother. And I saw a man with her, and he was trying to give me chocolate and a broom without the pink haired woman seeing. But she did see him, and smiled, and tried to give me a stuffed wolf in addition to his gifts, too."

Teddy shuffles his feet. Harry knows Teddy knows, but saves the boy the embarrassment of voicing his theory.

"Those were your parents," Harry says. "I saw my parents in the Mirror of Erised, too. But Teddy, you must promise me not to go back to the mirror."

"Why? I like to see them," Teddy says, pained.

"Because it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live," Harry replies gently. "I think I have something that will make saying goodbye to the mirror a little easier. I…hope this isn't too soon…" he looks at his wife, Ginny, who nods for him to continue.

Harry takes a box from the mantle.

"I was given a special stone by a dear friend of mine. I dropped it in the Forbidden Forest, but it was found by the Hogwarts gamekeeper," Harry begins.

"HAGRID!" Teddy interjects happily.

Harry smiles.

"Yes, dear Hagrid found it. He asked me what I should like done with it. I asked for it, for you, Teddy. I have never used it since the night I dropped it, and after this, I shall lose the stone again for good. It's as dangerous as the Mirror, for what you will see isn't real. Like all ghosts, it is but a well preserved memory."

Harry hands Teddy the stone.

"Ginny and I will give you some time to talk to them and…say a proper goodbye. You can come get us when you're through. And don't worry Teddy, this isn't the last time you will see them. Death brings us all back together again eventually," Harry says, pushing up his glasses.

Teddy looks into his godfather's green eyes and can read all the loss they have suffered and the hope that still springs up in them.

"You don't have to do this now, Teddy, if you don't want. I can keep the stone till you are older. I just thought…" Harry trailed off.

"No, I want to meet them now," Teddy replies quietly.

Harry knew that would be his answer, for he understood how Teddy felt and everything he was going through, just as Tonks's mother had predicted he would. Just like Remus and Tonks knew he would and had probably planned for him to.

Harry ruffles the turquoise hair and quietly exits the room, murmuring that all Teddy need do is turn the stone over in his hand.

Teddy can feel every pore of the stone on his fingertips as he twirls it over.

"Hello, Teddy," says two of the sweetest voices the boy has ever heard.

Hours and hours later, Teddy hates to tell them goodbye. He rushes out of the room, dropping the stone on the floor, tears streaming down his face. The ghosts are even reluctant to leave, for they love that blue haired boy.

Harry hears Teddy rush up to his room and knows it will be best to let him alone for a bit. He's surprised to find Remus and Tonks still in his living room when he walks in to retrieve the stone.

"Thank you, Harry," they say.

"You're welcome," Harry replies. "Thank you for entrusting him to me. He's lovely, if you didn't realize," he smiles. "He's doing so well at Hogwarts too, but, I'm sure he's told you all about it."

The ghosts nod.

"He's the head of his class, I doubt he told you _that_ –he's humble too," Harry informs them. Though they can't say they are surprised, Remus and Tonks are pleased to hear it.

"He's made some good friends already, too. Professor McGonagall tells me she manages not to miss me when Teddy is around. He's real Marauder material," he tells Remus.

Harry eventually tells the ghosts goodbye as well. The stone, its purpose fulfilled, is swiftly sent back to Hagrid by owl with instructions to drop it into the lake and tell no one about it.

Even if he does tell, Harry thinks, the Giant Squid and mermaids and grindylows will keep anyone from reaching it. I should know.

He climbs the stairs to Teddy's room. The boy is fast asleep, his wand in his hand. Harry pushes up his glasses, surprised to see the glow of a patronus. The silvery wolf looks at Harry before lying down again at Teddy's feet.

Harry thinks of his own patronus, the stag of his father, as he kisses Teddy and whispers the words his own godfather whispered to him years ago:

"The ones that love us never really leave us."

 **I hope you enjoyed this story and had some feels! :') I personally had a lot of fun and feels while writing it.**

 **If you DID indeed like it...please consider giving it a "heart" on Inkitt .com to help it win the fandom3 contest! I would appreciate it so much! (Same story title, same author name.) The contest goes until Jan 21, and voting continues for another week afterward, I believe. :)**

 **Thanks so much for reading this! and hugs and kisses for any voters! XD**


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